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Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Quit on Hockey?

I am deeply troubled at the entry that I found on my buddy Tim Harvey's hockey blog. Here is an excerpt from it...

"[bleep] you, Gary Bettman. I can't think of four words to better describe how I feel about the National Hockey League as I make my final entry into Rink Blog. On second thought, those four words should be: Thank you, Gary Bettman. Thank you for saving me a thousand dollars on tickets for poor to mediocre hockey.... Thank you for saving me a $150 on NHL Center Ice, which shows poor to mediocre hockey....Thank you for saving me $49.95 on The Hockey News, which covers poor to mediocre hockey.... After weeks of documenting your bullshit spat with the NHL Players' Association, I don't give a [bleep] anymore. Those are the four words I leave you with, Gary Bettman. NOBODY GIVES A [bleep]!"

I think this recent tirade is with merit and speaks for a lot of hockey fans. It should focus on the frustrations of a sport that should have risen above the petty disputes that have plagued the NHL for quite some time. For a fan that should sit and watch the product and find it watered down so much that it gets this kind of reaction, then something must be done.

I think Mr. Harvey's rant on the conditions of professional hockey go a little bit to far. For him to sit there and throw his hands up in the air and give up on the greatest game in North America. My advice to Tim and others who feel like him is this: Don’t give up just yet! The actions of a few small-minded people controlling must not tarnish this great game. An analogy to this is where I disassociated the people from the institution. People make mistakes. We are lucky to have some institutions like true American freedom that stand alone as something closer to perfection. Bettman, Goodenow, and the like should be kicked out for what they are doing, but DON'T EVER STOP LOVING HOCKEY! Go see a peewee game, go to a minor league game, or if you can, just go out and skate around the rink. The game will survive this. Believe.